Waterloo
by Wave bye-bye
Summary: A Lily and James fiction. Privileged deb, Lily learns that maybe there's more to James than she thought. Catty heiresses, deatheathers, drunken hufflepuffs galore. A bit AU.
1. Chapter One

Lily entered the Leaky Cauldron and blinked. The dimness of the place was almost startlingly dark after the bright August sunshine of the London streets. She moved in slowly, looking around, her father following close with her suitcase.

The barkeeper, Timothy, came over to her smiling, "How may I help you today miss?" he asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together. His grin was missing a couple teeth and his blond hair was greasy and cut unevenly.

Lily shifted the strap of her duffel bad uneasily. Timothy's toothy grin had always creeped her out a bit. Like he was thinking of things other than just showing her to a table. Inappropriate things. _Scuzzy_ things.

"Um… yes I guess," Lily said, glancing back at her father. He was staring around at the peculiar looking witches and wizards his mouth halfway open. "I am supposed to meet my friend Mariah Wilcott here. Do you know if she has arrived yet?"

"Can't say that I do," Tom told her, the creepy grin still plastered on his face. "Why don't you sit down and wait, hmmm?"

Lily assented and allowed Timothy to show her to a table near the fire. She took a seat frowning annoyed; a table next to a fireplace would not have been Lily's top choice on this sweltering August day. She asked Timothy to bring her and her father both a glass of ice water. They had walked a couple blocks so that their driver would not know where they were going.

Once he had left, Lily's father let out a weird sort of sigh, "Lily, _these people_!"

Lily looked around. A man in robes made completely from electric blue dragon hide, an old woman with 5 rings in each nostril, a young woman whose hair color seemed to reflect her mood, a deep navy as she read a letter crying. The Leaky Cauldron always attracted an odd genre of people, but then, Lily thought, most witches and wizards were odd, at least by her father's standards. Indeed, in this place full of wizards, Lily and her father were the ones that truly stood out. Dressed in pastel colored summer clothes they were the sore thumb of the (mostly) dark colored robes and hats that the wizards wore.

Lily smiled fondly at her father. "I know, Dad," she said, "and they think it's normal. It's crazy, but you get used to it."

"Incredible!" her father said, watching a stubby, clean faced man use his wand to clean up the ale he had just spilled.

Lily smiled. Her father never ceased to wonder at the everyday things of the wizarding world. He and her mother were so proud that Lily was a witch, even prouder that she had recently been named Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily had always been Daddy's little girl. She had her father's height and ruddy auburn hair as well as his intellect and thirst for knowledge. Her father was older than most, by muggle reasoning at least. A very successful businessman he had devoted most of his life to amassing a great deal of wealth and then at forty he had gotten married to a woman nearly twenty years his junior to start enjoying it. Lily's mother was a beautiful poised blonde woman who came from money, her father was a lord. Lily did not get along with her mother as well as she ought, her older sister Petunia was more her mother's child. Growing up, Lily and Petunia had the normal amount of sibling rivalry, but when Lily was accepted to Hogwarts all semblance of a healthy relationship between themhad beenlost. Lily generally tried to keep away from Petunia as much as she could.

A waitress set two glasses of water with lemon and ice in front of them. Lily sipped hers, trying not to wonder where exactly the water came from.

Mr. Evans shifted his attention back to Lily and went into father-mode. "Now Lillian," he said, "I want you to be on your best behavior at the Wilcott's. Be polite and please please _please_ do not start arguments at the dinner table." Lily enjoyed debating, it was rare if dinner at home went without a "stimulating" argument. "And remember to thank themfor everything."

Lily sighed, "Of course Daddy!" she hated it when her father reminded her of simple stuff like that. It made her feel five years old.Plus, she wasn't about to argue with her best friend's parents, in their own house no less. Arguing was something she tried to save for her mother and sister.

"Did you remember the house gift?" he asked raising his eyebrows. Her father and mother had bought some expensive wine and cheese, and had it arranged in a basket for the Wilcotts.

"Yea, it's right here," she told him lifting the basket off the floor to show him. She placed it back down after he nodded. They were quiet a moment.

"What will you be doing while I'm gone?" Lily asked, sliding a finger over the condensation on her glass. Her father had all taken all of August off to spend time with the family.

"Your mother and I are taking Petunia down to Portugal," he told her, regarding her cautiously.

Lily's mouth dropped open, "What!" she gasped sitting up straighter. "That is so unfair! Why can't you wait until I get back?" The Evanses took a trip down to Portugal every summer to swim in the ocean, it was one of Lily's favorite times of the year.

"Your mother thinks we should be spending more quality time with Petunia alone," he told her seriously, shaking his glass so that the ice cubes swirled around.

"You have all year alone with Petunia!" Lily cried, outraged. She crossed her arms. "Or are those nine and a half months I'm atschool not enough?"

"Lily, darling, please!" her father tempered, "Petunia is going away to the University soon. Besides that, you know how she gets when you are around…"

Lily pouted. It wasn't her fault her sister was jealous. She couldn't help it if she was smarter, prettier, and more popular. Survival of the fittest and Petunia was maladaptive. She needed a psychiatrist more than she needed a week in Portugal. "But you know I love the beach…" she whined.

"I know Lily, but some other time. How about I take you down to Brighton after Petunia leaves for school? Just you and me. Sound good?"

Lily thought about it for a moment then smiled and nodded. "Sounds perfect." She checked her watch. "Where couldMariah be?" she asked. Despite her good breeding Mariah was always late.

"Perhaps she told you a different time," her father suggested, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, he was unfamiliar with late people. No one dared to be late around him.

Lily shook her head. "I remember specifically, 'two o'clock at the Cauldron'." Thinking about it harder, she couldn't remember Mariah's specifications so closely, but it was best to stick to two and hope Mariah was just late. Her father hated it when people (especially Lily) didn't pay attention to details. Maybe that two had been a three, Mariah had really sloppy handwriting.

Luckily a few minutes later Mariah came rushing in from the entrance to Diagon Alley holding a small shopping bag from a popular clothing store. Seeing her Lily and her father stood and Mariah hurried over to them beaming.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" she cried giving them both a hug. "I saw the cutest T-shirt ever and I just had to have it!"

"Very understandable," Mr. Evans said giving Lily an I-wonder-where-I-heard-that-one-before look.

"It is so good to see you!" Mariah told them squeezing her hands together. "My parents are so excited about having Lily over," she said to Lily's father. "They can't wait to congratulate her on getting Head Girl!" she gave Lily a nudge.

"Well it is very kind of them to let Lily stay with you," Lily's father told her smiling. He had always liked Mariah. "I hope you girls have a good time."

"Thanks Daddy," Lily threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "I will see you in two weeks. Have a good time in Portugal." Despite being pissed that they were going without her, Lily felt a little bad for her dad. Two straight weeks with her mother and Petunia twenty-four seven was not much of a relaxing stay at the beach. More like a relaxing stay in the ape cage at the London Zoo. Poo throwing included.

Her father smiled crookedly and shook his head. "Thank you darling," he turned to Mariah, "It was nice seeing you again, Mariah."

"You too Mr. Evans," Mariah threw a dimple at him and waved bye.

Once he was gone, Lily and Mariah squealed joyously and hugged again.

"Lily!" Mariah gasped dramatically, "My life has been _Dullington_ since school let out."

"Oh, I'm sure mine has been sooo much better!" Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Whatever," Mariah said, flipping her sleek brown hair over her shoulder. "Now that we're back together again, we'll cook up some intrigues in no time." She looked around disdainfully. "Let's ditch this joint."

"Whatever you say!" Lily said, she stepped closer and lowered her voice, "Timothy has got to me the number one creepiest guy in all of London." She looked over at Tom who was watching the girls eagerly. He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Nay the country," Mariah agreed, watching him with scorn. She looked at Lily's baggage. "Did you carry all that stuff here?" she asked, "Why didn't you just shrink it?"

"Well, my dad carried the big one," Lily told her shrugging. "My mother told me not to use magic at home because of dear old Petty. I put a lightening charm on the big one though. It would have given my dad a heart attack to carry it from the car. He thinks he's a macho man now."

Mariah giggled, "Your dads so cute!" she told her wand out of her shopping bag and shrunk Lily's big suitcase eyeing the wine and cheese basket. "What is that?"

"It's some wine and cheese for your parents. My mom thought it would be nice to give them something." Lily said picking it up.

Mariah said nothing. Then dug around in her purse for some coins to pay for the waters that Lily had ordered, insisting that she owed them for being late. Lily let her.

Mariah picked up the shrunken suitcase. "Come one, we're out of this hole."

Lily smiled and followed her to Diagon Ally, happy to be with her best friend again.


	2. Chapter Two

Mariah lived in a big white and brick mansion called Stock Hollow in western Cornwall. She had once told Lily that her great great great great great great grandfather had built it after the first one had been blown up by a neighboring wizard because of a "philosophical disagreement". In the past, the Wilcotts tended to be a vindictive people. But now they were a more level headed bunch who enjoyed living the good life in their handsome home. The house had beautiful gardens and a large outdoor pool.

Mariah's parents were welcoming as usual. Connie and Bernard Wilcott were two of the most caring as well as the most snobby people Lily knew, and with Lily's parents, that was saying something. Connie was tall and very thin with straight, light brown hair, hazel eyes and very high cheekbones. Her husband was rather squat, shorter than his wife, and had dark brown hair and a bald spot. Mariah took after her mother. Her hair was light brown and glossy and she had some of her mother's height and her cheekbones, but had her father's deep brown eyes.

"Lily, darling, you look absolutely beautiful!" Connie declared embracing her and giving her a peck on the check. Lily was passed over to Bernard.

"And Head Girl, by gad!" he added, pumping her hand then giving her a hug.

Lily smiled warmly at them. She knew the only reason they allowed Mariah to be friends with her was because her parents were extremely wealthy. Mariah herself told her in their first year, that they could be best friends now because though Lily's parents were muggles, Connie and Bernard (even at eleven years Mariah called her parents by their first names) had done some research and discovered that the Evans were loaded. At the time, Lily had thought that this was odd, but she liked Mariah and needed as many new friends as she could get, so ever since then she and Mariah had been best friends.

"I am so happy to see you both!" she said returning courtesy. "Thank you so much for having me stay again."

"Oh, Lily, don't even think of it!" Connie cried with a wave of the hand. "You are like family to us!"

_Like family_, Lily thought wryly, her value had apparently gone up since becoming Head Girl.

"Look what Lily's brought us," Mariah chimed in sardonically, holding up the wine and cheese basket.

Connie took it from Mariah, examining it. "How thoughtful!" Wine and cheese weren't normally given as gifts in the Wizarding World, but Lily had seen no harm in it, figuring everybody could eat cheese and drink wine.

"My parents picked them out," she told them.

"How very kind of them," Connie said, smiling. "I'll just run this to the kitchen. I will see you girls later!" she bustled off with the basket.

"Lily I am really very glad to have you here," Bernard said sincerely. "I could not have been happier or prouder when I heard you had made Head Girl."

Lily beamed. "Why thank you Mr. Wilcott!" she had always liked him. "I'm touched."

"Yes well…" he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I'll let Mariah take you to your room."

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Thanks Dad. Come on Lily. Let's carry your bags; it's faster than getting Old George to bring them." Old George was the Wilcotts' squib butler. No one knew exactly how old he was, but he had been around a long time.

Lily said bye to Mr. Wilcott and followed Mariah up the foyer stairs to the second floor. A door opened to the left; Mariah's 15 year old brother, Lucas, peered out and beamed. He wore swim shorts and sandals. He leaned against the doorframe careful to display his six-pack. He had light brown shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes. He and Mariah could have been twins.

"Hey Lily," he said grinning at her.

Lily smiled sheepishly, "Hey Luc what's up?"

"I was just heading down to the pool, care to join me?" the tone of his voice and the raise of his eyebrows were so suggestive that Lily almost laughed.

"Uh, maybe later Luc," she said.

"Sure whatever," he shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Jeez Lucas," Mariah said, utterly disgusted. "Try and be more creepy why don't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Luc protested stretching out his hands, "I was being friendly!"

"_Friendly_?" Mariah repeated, "Lily just walked in the door, and you're already trying to jump her. Go satisfy your raging hormones elsewhere."

Lucas turned beet red. "You're such a bitch." He turned around and slammed the door.

"And put a shirt on!" Mariah shouted at the door.

"Go to hell!" he shouted from the inside.

Lily laughed, amused.

"I bet he's been planning that little encounter for weeks," Mariah said as they continued down the hall. "He is such a loser." She brought Lily to the backside of the house to the room that Lily always stayed in. The room was done in light blue and light brown; it was Lily's little home away from home at the Wilcotts'.

They dropped their burdens on the floor. "Leave it." Mariah told her. "The house elf will unpack for you later."

Lily sat down on her bed. "Seen any of the gang lately?" she asked.

"Once in a while," Mariah told her, sitting against the headboard. "Connie and Bernard don't like me consorting with the 'less worthy'." She made air quotes. Mariah's family was a well-established wealthy family in the Wizarding World. Her parents couldn't stop Mariah from associating with the "less worthy" at school, but they certainly could at home. "I've seen Serena and Toby a couple times, and James Potter a lot. Our parents are like BFFs."

"Lucky you," Lily said dryly. She had always thought James Potter to be more than somewhat of a jerk-off.

"Yea, well, James isn't so bad once you get to know him," Mariah said.

Lily ignored her.

"Oh," Mariah continued, "Sirius bought his own flat in London. An uncle or someone died and left him money. James convinced my parents to let me go to one of his parties. It was wild."

"I can just imagine," Lily said. Sirius was crazy enough at Hogwarts where there were teachers and rules, but on his own and unsupervised… Lily would be surprised if he was still alive by first day.

"Serena said that at one party Rebecca Sawyer from Hufflepuff got wasted and almost jumped out the window naked." Mariah said, raising her eyebrows.

"Wow," said Lily impressed. They had nicknamed Rebecca Sawyer "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" for all her wholesomeness. Guess she wasn't quite so wholesome. "Who stopped her?" she asked.

"Gabby and Nicholas Rouse, according to Serena anyway," Mariah told her.

"Jeez." Lily felt a pang, wishing _she_ could have gone to one of Sirius' parties. But her parents didn't like her going to the homes of people they didn't know. Lily had a feeling that even if they did know Sirius, they wouldn't let her go to his flat. Sirius had that sort of impression on parents.

"Oh!" cried Mariah, remembering. "Connie and Bernard are having a party next Wednesday. I hope you brought a dress."

Lily was used to Mariah popping things like that on her. It was what Mariah did. Luckily, Lily, accustomed to Mariah's little surprises, had come prepared for any occasion in any weather. "Yes," she said. "I brought a couple just in case."

"Good because the 'rents are going all outs. They're inviting practically everyone they know."

"What's the occasion?" Lily asked.

"They're bored," Mariah told her inspecting her nails. "My mom loves showing off to anyone and everyone, and my dad lets her because it boosts his ego."

Lily was quiet a minute then said, shaking her head "Wow, either your parents are sooo transparently simple, or I think you've got a great career in psychoanalysis ahead of you."

Mariah threw a pillow at her. "Let me be angsty! I'm seventeen years old, I've got a right to be."

Lily dropped back onto the coverlet, staring at the canopy. "You know you love it as much as they do."

Mariah was quiet a moment, then lay next to Lily and sighed. "I suppose I do. This is why I need you around Lily, you keep me from wallowing in ponds of self-pity that I don't have."

"That's what I'm here for." They were both quiet a moment. "Mariah?"

"Yea?"

"We're seventh years."

"Yea, I know. This is crazy shit," Mariah blinked. "But I wouldn't go back even if I could."

Lily thought about it a moment. "Me neither," she agreed. "I'm happy where I am."

"You should be, Head Girl."

Lily smiled in spite of herself. "I still can hardly believe it. I mean, Lerissa Goshawke is, like, a genius. I'm glad I beat her though, she's a social retard. What a terrible Head Girl she'd be."

"Totally!" Mariah laughed. She made her voice shrill in imitation of Lerissa, "'If you don't stir the eel's blood right now, I'll tell Professor Campbell that you were the one who stole all the Spanish fly!' Eech, what an effing loser."

Lily giggled, "I still can't figure out how she knew it was you."

Mariah shrugged. "I bet she has her dirty little ways of finding out things about people to make herself feel important. If she was Head Girl she'd go on a power trip and drop points from people for not waving at her in the corridors."

"Def. yea," Lily agreed.

They were quiet a long moment.

"Lily?"

"Yea?"

"You know James Potter is Head Boy, right?"

Lily sighed. "Yea." She had never held a high opinion of James. He was a pompous trouble maker, with little respect for anyone else's' feelings. And he founding extremely amusing to ask her out every other breath. They were sort of in the same group of friends, so Lily had to tolerate him, but she never tried to hide her dislike for him. Unfortunately, it seemed to goad him on. What got Lily the most was that he has smart without trying. Hope and wish as she might, Lily had to work for her good marks. She studied and she practiced and she studied some more. James had spent his entire school career running around playing pranks on people and still he had make Head Boy. The ability to succeed without trying was hard to forgive someone for.

"I've spent a lot of time with him this summer…" Mariah started.

"EW! Do not tell me you two are an item," Lily cried, turning her head to look at Mariah.

"No way!" Mariah cried, a little scandalized, "I'd sooner date Lucas! What I'm trying to say is he's alright."

"'He's alright'," Lily repeated dead-pan.

"Really!" Mariah told her, "I mean he can be a nice guy when you don't hate him so much."

"Mariah, that makes no sense," Lily said, "Besides, I don't hate him, I just – don't like him," she finished awkwardly and sighed. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" Mariah asked.

"I don't know, just not James Potter."

"How about Travis Milner?" Mariah asked, trying to keep her voice light.

"Travis Milner? Who's he?" Lily asked.

"Hot new garden help," Mariah said a wicked grin on her face.

Lily sat up fast, "Garden help?" she asked a smirk on her face. Mariah had no shame.


End file.
